Yes, I say IF they lost their edge, because they came back to take care of their 2 pre-Super Bowl playoff games, one easily, and the other they came back to demonstrate superiority against the Jets. Did they regain their edge just before the 2 pre-Super Bowl playoff wins only to lose it again for unknown reasons before the Super Bowl?

I just don't think we can point to the loss where they pulled their starters and call that, with any certainty, a big reason they ended up losing the Super Bowl.

I have never invested so much into a Superbowl. As a life long Saints fan, it was always finding someone to root for while saying "Well maybe next year is the Saint's year."

This was a good game and well played by both teams. I figured that it would either be a blow out by one team or it would come down to the wire and it pretty much came down to the wire, proof that it was becoming a real chess match.

As far as second guessing the coaching staff, my brother is a high school football coach and he once said it best while responding to a disgruntled fan questioning his decision on a crucial down. "I and my staff watch hours of tape, both game tape and our practice tapes. We know the other team's strengths and weaknesses as well as our own. We also have classes to plan for. Should you have any more knowledge, skill or talent that we do not already possess then please let me know and I will give you a headset and place you in the booth or on the sideline. Until that time ...."

Peace and Godspeed.

That is the point. They did not have to go all out in order to get to the Super Bowl. It was a given that they were in the play offs with home field advantage. There was nothing left to go for, no goal. The perfect seson was down the toilet the only thing left was The Super Bowl itself. Whether it is a person or a team, goals are important, something to strive for. You do your best you practice harder you try harder but when a goal becomes unattainable one lets down. One does not drive quite as hard does not push quite as hard and this brings out losing the edge. Trying to regain that edge after a slow down is very very difficult.

Of course once they got to the Super bowl they tried to get the edge back. But it was gone. The edge I am speaking here of would have been winning all 16 games. They would have no reason to let down. They would have gone all out for the remainder of the season had they beat the Jets. But there was nothing left. The undefeated perfect season was gone. They were just about garanteed the Super Bowl berth. But they gave up the edge of playing at their full potential and lost their edge after the Jets game. All they had to do now was go through the motions to get to the playoffs as at was garanteed. No need to work hard. However had they beat the Jets they still had the goal. Work hard and be the only team in the History of the NFL to win all 16 games of the regular season plus the playoffs and go on to win the Big One. Instead the mind set now becomes, all we need do is win the big one. We will be ready. But they were not ready. They lost the edge they would have kept if they beat the Jets and won the 16 games...they would have been on such a high. I know you do not believe this is a factor...I do. Did it cost them the Super Bowl? Obviously I cannot say for sure because it would be speculation. However I do believe that they would have had motivation through the rest of the season after the Jets game to go on winning and playing their best football and it would have carried on through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl.

Goals are extremely important. They are set by sales managers, athletic coaches etc. and they must be attainable. If one has studied physcology at all one would know that goals are extremely important to keep an individual on his toes and not let down if he wishes to attain those goals (so they must be realistic) and once that goal is unattinalbe he lets down and getting it back is difficult. You cannot turn it off and on at will.

The Saints won and deserved it.

Beating a dead horse here. I do not mean for this to turn into one of those threads that goes on and on and gets nowhere because no one will bend. I know I wil not change my mind and I realize that the others here will not change theirs. I do belieive that the Jets give away removed a goal that should have been dangled in front of the players. I feel that this loss definitely contributed to their other two losses in that fact that they lost their edge. They would have kept that edge had they went on to beat the Jets and continue their winning streak and accomplish the goal of a "perfect season." Once that goal was removed they were going to be another Super Bowl Champion along with 43 others instead of a Super Bowl Champion with an undefeated season that only one other team in the history of the NFL attained. In other words they would have been "perfection personified". Instead they are nothing more than another also ran.

I said all I am going to say about this.
In the scheme of things it is not all that important.

It didn't help the Patriots a couple of years ago.

Are you saying that the Pats won every game and lost the Super Bowl?

Correct.

http://www.nfl.com/standings?category=di......=Overall

It is fun to troll.

We finally agree. I knew that. The reason for my stating this was to prove that having a perfect season is a big big deal not like some here have said that the only thing that matters is winning the Super Bowl and that winning all games is nothing more than a fact in a record book. BS. It was so important to the players and fans that I cannot imagine giving the game away was an option. If one looks back on the hype for the Pats and Giant game which was not broadcast on regular channel television, it was hyped as one of the games that could possibly beat the ratings of the Super Bowl. I must admit there were other records involved in this game that could be broken but it goes to show that what is in the record books is very important not just winning the Super Bowl.

You just do not hype professional athletes to a point of being the best of the best then tell them to lay down. I said I would stop posting about this, but why can't people understand the pride that these men have and it was taken away from them. It is not only about being the Super Bowl Champions, it is about being the best of the best and they were robbed of that opportuniity and I doubt they will ever get it again.

I would just like to end by saying that I think it stinks when a professional football team while on a record setting season purposely pulls their players and lose to an inferior team in a game that the fans paid full admission price to see their team make history hurts not only the players esteem in themselves but also insults the fans.

Perhaps whether they won or lost to the Jets would have no effect on the Super Bowl outcome is a moot point as we will never know for sure. However I feel bad for the players being robbed of this opportunity and feel sorry for the fans that paid good money to see nothing but a second string footballl team play the Jets. For what they did in the Jets game, I stand by what I said, "The colts got what they deserve" and that is nothing, just another also ran. I said I would stop posting about this and I did not ..but I am now done.

One last point here..I think most would agree that Marino was one of the greatest quaterbacks that played the game. He never won a Super Bowl.

So now say what you will and no rebuttals here.

As for what would have happened in the Super Bowl, I agree with Chessmann - the "psychological edge" didn't help the Patriots. Wouldn't have changed a thing (unless the suffered a key injury, in which case the Super Bowl might have been Saints-Jets or Saints-Ravens).

As for the undefeated Patriots and their miraculous 2007 regular season, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find one of them who wouldn't trade places with the 2007 Giants, who "only" went 10-6, but ended up with Super Bowl rings.

Definitely agree re: Marino

I actually agree they should have been given a chance to go 16-0.

What do you mean "why can't we understand the pride...." Of course we understand! I, for one, never spoke of pride. But that you still haven't shown that it led to a loss of edge that resulted in the Colt's Super Bowl loss.

BTW, I am saying that the Colts (the highly favored team) clearly did not lose their edge due to the Jets loss, as shown in their 2 playoff games, and lost the Super Bowl.

I am saying the Patriots (the highly favored team) won all 16 games and should not have lost their edge, but did (???) and lost the Super Bowl.

In sum, I'm saying that it can't be seen in any way that the Jets loss related to their Super Bowl loss.

Both the Colts and the Patriots were overvalued in the Super Bowl odds/pointspreads.

Interestingly, the casinos made a bundle on the upset this year - over $7 million; but when the Giants upset the Patriots 2 years ago, they lost a couple of million.

When Payton Manning was a child he always dreamed of throwing the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl .........



... and now he has

That's mean.